Meet the Athletes

Asya Miller

Asya Miller has competed in a variety of sports her whole life. Over the years she has excelled at goalball, powerlifting, track and field, and karate. At Western Michigan University, where she majored in criminal justice, Asya competed in Division 1 track and field. In the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Asya won a bronze medal in discus, and in 2001 she was named Female Athlete of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee.

Asya joined the US women’s Paralympic goalball team a year before graduating from college. In 2004 she helped the team win a silver medal at the Athens Games, and in 2008 they won gold in Beijing.

“I like competing in the big venues,” Miller says.

The women’s goalball team defended their title at the 2011 Parapan American Games with another 1st place win, where Asya also had the honor of being the U.S. team’s flag bearer. The team returns to the Paralympics this year with the intention of keeping their gold medal status.

Miller is legally blind due to Stargardt’s Disease, a genetic condition that causes macular degeneration and progressive vision loss. She received her master’s degree in criminal justice in 2008 from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. There, she has been able to study as well as train at the Olympic Training Center located in Colorado Springs.

Off the field, Asya has been an active community member, volunteering at sports camps for visually impaired children and helping to build housing for the needy.

Asya will be joined in London by her littlest fan, her son Ryder, who will be 13 months old.